they had a few catchy tunes and HEAD was a mind ***censored*** trip! woah!I dunno...they were audtitioned and formed for a TV show...sounds familiar, hmmmm? wow...They're alright but don't get much repect in my book. <shrug>

I agree, Ram. I doubt a show like Hefner's would get on primetime today. I remember when the Smothers Brothers lost their show - it was so childish of the network! I was living in NYC then and their production company was in the building where I worked. One of the guys I worked with saw Tommy in the elevator and told him how sorry he was. He told us Tommy was very gracious and matter of fact about it, said he expected it. Still, it WAS good tv/entertainment and I was glad they did it. It just made the powers that be look all the more stupid.

Jet, exactly!! And that's the point I'm trying to make. You can laugh at someone all you want saying The Monkees were manufactured rubbish and that you don't respect them. But I think things like the Head film just prove that they actually had amazing songwriting talent (mostly Mike Nesmith, and a little bit of Peter Tork, but still.) That's why they were so frustrated with the show's executives, because they had all this creative energy and ideas just bursting at the seams, but they weren't "allowed" to show it until Head. And then after the show was cancelled, they continued to show it on 3 or 4 albums afterwards. (Albums that I really need to get my hands on!) I really respect them because even though they were "put together" for a tv show, they actually worked really hard to become good musicians and songwriters. It's like they always say about The Monkees, "they were a make-believe band who became a real band!"

I agree with you wholeheartedly about The Monkees Ram1. People don't take them seriously enough as a band. They made some relly good singles, but most of their album tracks are just as good, and in some cases better than their singles output. The TV show is one of my all time favourites. I'd been enjoying it for many years before I even knew the HEAD film existed, but when I did finally see it back in early 1986, I couldn't believe how good it was! That was the point when I REALlY started to take serious notice of The Monkees and become more than just a passive viewer of the TV show.

Yep. For those of you who have never seen "Head", I HIGHLY suggest you check it out. You'll never look at The Monkees the same again. Of course, the movie was a huge flop at the box office when it came out in '68, but that's only because the teeny-boppers and everybody else were expecting a sugar-gum pop copy of the tv show. They were shocked and dissapointed when they saw The Monkees "commit suicide" within the first couple minutes of the movie. (To me, that's the best scene of the movie, while the tune "Porpoise Song" is playing.)

Great minds think alike Ram1! That scene with all the underwater swimming/psychedelic colouring is without a doubt not only the best scene in the movie but for me the best film clip they ever made. And that song! Totally sublime! My favourite Monkees track in fact.

But analyzing better, even if they could have much time as a band, Nesmith and Tork couldn´t do so much more,´cos Dolenz and Jones(though he´s OK as a lead vocal) don´t have a great talent. They never could be equalized with Beatles, Stones, Zeppelin or any greatest bands... At least, they could be compared with groups like Marmalade, Tremeloes, Badfinger, Bread, Humble Pie, etc. that made little gems but with short time successful. They weren´t too bad but I´d have doubt of their triumph if they carried on. But agreed "Head" soundtrack as well as the movie(though despite their good performances, the script is not from their "heads") is kinda Monkee´s masterpiece and their signature on the rock/pop universe.

Right, well said, Dsnito. I mean, I am in no way comparing The Monkees to The Beatles, Stones, or anyone else for that matter. My main point is just that they were so much more than a silly tv show. Head proves that. I think Nesmith especially could have taken that band so much farther.